Facing that question, Idel took a moment to recall Caeron’s deeply imprinted words in her heart.

“[Dash] I’ll support you. Not as a consort, but as you, Idel.”

“[Dash] You can do it. This is the path you want to go.”

“[Dash] You’re not alone. I’ll be right behind you, so go ahead, wherever it is.”

Recalling his words, Idel tried to calm her rapidly rising heartbeat and the choking sensation she felt. She finally spoke.

“Yes, he treats me well. Without his support, I couldn’t have done what you read about in the newspapers.”

“I knew it. I’ve heard that the Duke is cold and fearsome, but the way he looks at you, the expression he wears…it’s filled with affection!”

At Vian’s words, Idel’s face turned as red as the sunset seen through the window.

“Could that really be the case…?”

She had thought that his affection was due to the diplomatic courtesy towards a consort, but the realization that he was looking at her, not as a consort, but as herself, threw her into confusion once more.

Ever since he had acknowledged her as an individual, Idel felt the gates of her previously suppressed emotions slowly opening.

Observing Idel’s flushed face and trembling eyes, Vian was certain that the consort felt the same way as the Duke.

“Do you feel the same way about the Duke?”

Vian’s question made Idel feel as if her breath had been cut off.

“My feelings for him…”

The question she had deliberately avoided was penetrating her heart in the form of Vian’s innocently thrown question. In a state where she couldn’t even blink, Idel froze solid.

“As I expected.”

Looking at Idel, who didn’t know how to respond to her question for the first time, Vian let out a small sigh of regret.

“If you’re like this, you probably haven’t been able to properly express your feelings.”

Considering Idel had difficulty expressing herself even in front of her longtime maid, how much more difficult must it be for her in front of the Duke?

Moreover, Vian had grown up alongside Idel since childhood. She knew well the environment Idel had been raised in.

Growing up in a family coldly disdainful of her, Idel had never experienced true affection. So, in a relationship where affection should be exchanged, she couldn’t help but be awkward and passive.
Bien clenched both of his fists as if he had made up his mind. Though it might be presumptuous, he decided to offer advice for Idel this time.

“Your Highness, excuse the intrusion, but hearts need to be expressed to be known, especially between men and women.”

Cautiously observing Idel’s face, Bien spoke in a gentle tone.

“Wouldn’t it be good if you also express feelings like the affection you receive from His Grace the Duke? Surely, His Grace would be delighted.”

Upon hearing Bien’s words, Idel’s eyes widened as if he had realized something. Looking back, he had only been receiving from Caeron and had never properly reciprocated.

He had been more focused on concealing and restraining his own feelings for him. Idel’s eyes deepened as he mulled over his past actions.

“I’ve read in novels that most lovers regret not expressing their feelings properly. I hope you express yours freely, Your Highness, as time lost will not return.”

Bien’s words resonated strongly with her once more. Idel felt like she had truly awakened. She firmly grasped her trembling hands.

‘Three years will pass, and this moment will never return.’

He had secretly feared the predetermined breakup under their contractual relationship. However, it was better to face each other with honest emotions than to hide them in confusion, leaving no regrets for later.

‘That’s right. I don’t want to regret.’

The moment she realized that, she remembered what Caeron had said on the night she had pushed and denied their relationship.

As his blue eyes, like molten lava that had captivated her from the first moment, appeared in her mind, Idel couldn’t help but close her trembling eyes.

She knew what he hoped to express with his flickering gaze that wrapped around her. She also knew why she had been restless and unable to sleep in the room alone after he had left.

What she had thought she had cast aside all this while was selfdeception. In reality, she had clearly realized it.

The actuality of the emotion she had carefully hidden deep within her heart. Her feelings for him.

‘I…’

His gentle tone, his yearning gaze, his sometimes tightly binding gaze, and his enclosing touch…

‘…want.’

She wanted all of him.

‘Yes. I want Caeron.’

Accepting this fact completely, Idel slowly opened her eyes that she had closed. What had been unfocused and vague was now clear again, like the focus within her opened eyes.